Mobile Number Portability Implementation &
Management, Ghana’s Experience
Yaw Boamah Baafi
Regulatory Administration Division
National Communications Authority
May 9, 2012
8-May-12
Outline
Key MNP Success factors & Principles of Implementation
Legal basis for MNP in Ghana
MNP Implementation Processes
MNP Policy Statement Highlights
MNP Project Milestones Achieved
Post Implementation of MNP
Statistics
Ongoing activities
8-May-12
2
Key Number Portability Success Factors
Regulatory framework
Public Awareness
Recipient driven
All Call Query (ACQ) method with Central Reference
Database (CRDB) and local databases (DBs). No transit
traffic
Limited reject reasons permitted (not including debt)
Per port cost low enough for recipient to cover, even for
low ARPU customers
Consumer Experience (Convenience & Cost)
Variation in prices, QoS, Coverage & Customer Service
8-May-12
3
Principles for Successful MNP
Implementation, experts’ views
Stakeholders are adequately informed of benefits of MNP, in addition
to providing its legal framework/basis.
A Policy statement outlining the key principles under which NP will be
implemented.
Regulator needs to be actively involved.
The Regulator needs to form an industry working group (Steering
Group) to manage the implementation
The regulator MUST chair the group to maintain its focus and drive
Terms of Reference is essential for the Steering Group’s (SG) work
SG should produce a high-level project plan to manage the
implementation (maintaining progress against timescales)
Decision Making Rules are key
Working Groups have to be able to make (binding) collective
decision
8-May-12 Decisions need to be documented and circulated
4
Legal basis for MNP
Electronic communications Act, 2008 (Act 775)
Section 6(1)(o), states that: “a network operator or service provider
shall provide number portability when required to do so by the
Authority.”
Two sections of the mobile licence which refer to NP:
Section 12.3 states; “When the Authority in consultation with the
Industry decides to introduce number portability as an obligation for all
Licensees, the Licensee shall comply.”
Section 15.1 states; “The Licensee shall conform to the numbering plan
approved by the Authority and any directions given by the Authority in
respect of the numbering plan and any direction the Authority may give
to facilitate the portability of telephone numbers between mobile
cellular Operators.”
8-May-12
5
MNP Implementation Processes
First MNP Workshop held on February 23 to 24, 2010
MNP Project launch in April, 2010, with formation of
Steering Group & Subgroups
SG meets in 6 wks
Steering Group
NCA + All mobile
operators
representatives
Legal/Commercial
Working Group
(Pricing, Public
Comm., legal docs.,
Business rules, issue
RFP)
8-May-12
Technical Working
Group (Connection with
MNP service provider,
maintenance, proper
routing of traffic
Process Working
Group (Business rules,
IT aspects of port
ordering process)
6
Highlights of MNP Policy Statement
All networks to route calls & messages by first referring to a database of
ported Nos.
A central NP service provider solution to be adopted
MNP to be recipient operator led
Porting must be concluded within 24 hrs worst case
Mechanisms for tariff transparency
NCA reserve the right to modify, regulate or cancel any porting fee
Fair and reasonable rejection reasons, and debt owed to a network
cannot be used as a refusal reason to port.
30 days lag period before a ported number can be ported again
30 days lag period before newly activated numbers can port
No ‘win back’ strategy for donor operators, once the porting process has
begun.
8-May-12
7
MNP Implementation Processes “Cont’d”
SG published a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the central service
equipment (provider) in July, 2010.
Nine companies submitted proposals, from which SG evaluated
and selected PortingXS of the Netherlands based on capability,
pricing and experience.
NCA issued MNP service provider Authorisation to PortingXS
Ghana in Nov., 2010.
A multilateral contract b/n all operators & PortingXS was drafted
with NCA’s involvement.
PortingXS charges each connected operator a fixed recurring
fee, in addition to a descending fee per successful port
chargeable to a recipient operator.
8-May-12
8
MNP Project Milestones Achieved
Item
MNP project launch
Date
15/4/2010
Steering Group & Subgroups members confirmed
19/4/2010
MNP Policy Statement accepted as a working document
4/5/2010
Operators Internal Impact Assessment
21/4/2010 –
20/7/2010
30/7/2010
Issue Request for Proposal (RFP)
Tender Evaluation
Preferred Bidder selected (PortingXS)
6/9/2010 –
30/9/2010
4/10/2010
Initial MNP Service Provision Authorisation issued to PortingXS 12/11/2010
MNP System Specification concluded
17/12/2010
Commercial, Legal & Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Negotiations
31/01/2011
8-May-12
9
MNP Project Milestones Achieved “Cont’d”
Item
Contracting Signing
Date
10/06/2011
Preparation of Business rules
28/03/2011
Technical Specification Document
28/03/2011
MNP Regulations
20/06/11
MNP System Installation at Primary site & Testing
14/02/2011
MNP System Adjustment & Links to Operators
23/02/2011
Training Session for Operators & NCA
Operator end-to-end Testing
3/03/30114/03/2011
7/03/11-17/06/11
Transfer Maintenance to Operators
1/07/11
MNP Go Live in Ghana
7/07/11
8-May-12
10
The Porting Process
Recipient submits request to system:
Authorisation request sent to donor as soon as customer
sends validation SMS to system
Donor responds within 4 hours aproving or rejecting
request
Recipient sends instruction request to start the actual port
Donor sends confirmation that customer is terminated (or
system does it within 15 minutes regardless)
System sends broadcast message to all operators about
the newly ported number
8-May-12
11
Post Implementation of MNP
SG maintained & a Working Group established (IT,
Technical, Sales & Helpdesk personnel)
SG meets in 6-8 weeks intervals and WG meets as and
when necessary.
8-May-12
12
No. of Ports per Months
Month
No. of Ports
Average Time (Hrs : mins)
July’ 11
21,073
5:21
August’ 11
43,593
4:16
September’ 11
41,031
3:07
October’ 11
32,772
2:53
November’ 11
20,188
3:55
December’ 11
17,892
3:10
January’ 12
23,242
3: 21
February’ 12
28,319
3: 15
March’ 12
29,424
9:10*
April’ 12
29,828
2:37
Total
287,362
4:12
Fastest port in April took 31 seconds from start to finish
8-May-12
13
Cumulative Requests by Category
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
Jul-11
Aug-11 Sep-11
Oct-11
Authorisation Blocked
8-May-12
Nov-11
Dec-11
Aborted
Jan-12
Feb-12
Mar-12
Apr-12
Request Completed
14
8-May-12
15
MNP Statistics for February
A typical port timing in February, 2012 is as
follows (28,319):
5% were completed within 15 minutes
48% were completed between 15 minutes and 1
hour
30% were completed between 1 and 3 hours
16% were completed between 3 and 24 hours
1% were completed in more than 24 hours
8-May-12
16
Time to Port in European Union
Source:ICC, UK
8-May-12
17
Some Examples: Time to Port (MNP) by Country
Country
Australia
Austria
Beligum
Canada
Cyprus
Czech Rep.
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Latvia
Source: TMG
8-May-12
Time (in days)
~ 3 hours
3
2
~ 3 hours
6
5
5
5
7
5
12
1-2
6
1
< 3 hours
20
depends
depends
10
Country
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Poland
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovak Rep.
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
USA
Ghana :
Time (in days)
5
1-4
1
10
5-7
3
4-21
8
13
5
1
20
7
1
5
5
15-30
2
2 hours
≤ 24 hours
18
Time to Implement MNP in months
Ghana took 15 Months to implement MNP
8-May-12
Source: ICC, UK
19
Ongoing Activities for 2012
Continue to have general oversight of the process
Planning stricter enforcement of all rules, including
punitive measures where necessary
Tightening performance requirements to produce
faster and more reliable porting processes.
8-May-12
20
Thank YOU
Questions!!!
Please ask
8-May-12
21